A moment in time
by loonie lupin
Summary: At Ryan's arrival, the team did not welcome him, Eric included. But his whole perception is change in one moment. What happen when Ryan become Eric's protégé… and maybe more? Pre-slash E/R
1. Chapter 1

**Title**: A moment in time

**Chapter 1**  
**Characters**: Eric, Ryan with a brief (but really brief) apparition from Calleigh.  
**Pairing**: will be Eric/Ryan but later...  
**Word Count: 2000**  
**Rating**: PG, for now at least.  
**Warnings/Spoilers**: none, apart maybe from incoherence with the show, since I haven't see a lot of episodes yet.  
**Summary**: At Ryan's arrival, the team did not welcome him, Eric included. But his whole perception is change in one moment. What happen when Ryan become Eric's protégé… and maybe more?_Chapter 1_

**Thanks to shadowfax27 who corrected my awful lot of mistake and made that story readable!**

* * *

Eric was heading towards the locker room, ready to change and go home. He had had a big day and was feeling exhausted. He had worked with Horatio on this case, and they had been out of the lab most of the time. That tended to happen when the suspects were out of town.

However, he had to admit that he was kind of glad to have been away from there for some time. The atmosphere in the lab had been tense since Speed's death and Ryan's arrival. It was not that easy to work together again(,) so it was a nice change for him to work alone with his boss.

Nonetheless, he was sure it had not been the same for the others. Horatio had stuck Calleigh with the newbie, wanting to make them "bond" over a case. It was true that the young woman had been the one to react the worse to Wolfe's presence, and Eric feared it would not be enough to conciliate them.

His doubts were confirmed when Calleigh stormed out of a room and passed him without even a word or a look of acknowledgement. Bemused, Eric turned around to see where she was headed and shook his head slightly when he saw her leaving the building, before resuming his way to his destination. Something must have happened, but now was not the time for him to wonder about it. He would just have to ask Calleigh about it the day after because right now, all he wanted to do was to crawl into his bed and have a good night's sleep.

Fate, however, did not seem to agree with him as he noticed, as soon as he had opened the locker room's door, that it was not empty, like he thought it would be. Ryan was there. The young man must have come in when he was watching Calleigh leave. Apparently, the younger CSI did not hear him come in as he was facing away from him.

Ryan was sitting on the bench and breathing heavily and unevenly, and that worried Eric more than he cared to admit. Slowly, he made his way to the other man, fearing for a hyperventilation crisis. Sure, he did not especially like Ryan, but he was just a kid, and somehow, seeing him so vulnerable made him ache.

"Hey Wolfe!" he exclaimed, feeling uncomfortable with staying there without the younger man knowing it. He felt like he was witnessing a private moment, which he actually was, but that was not the point.

Ryan was startled when he heard his name being called, and he turned to face Eric. The look on the youngest man's face was heartbreaking. Eric could see that he was hurting, and alongside with that conclusion, he felt a pang of guilt as well. Nonetheless, he had to concentrate on the real issue, namely, Ryan's apparent difficulty breathing.

"You okay, man?" he asked, trying to find a way to begin a conversation and, at the same time, gathering information to be able to help Wolfe.

Ryan nodded frantically, hoping that Eric would just drop the matter and go away. But the Cuban did not buy it and stayed where he was, which was a good thing, seeing that Wolfe began to really hyperventilate soon afterwards.

Staying calm for the young man's sake and knowing exactly what to do in such a situation, Eric quickly sat down on the bench, one leg on each side, and maneuvered Ryan until he was leaning against his chest. Ryan did not fight him and was only a bit startled when strong arms encircled him.

"Breathe, Ryan, deeply. Calm down, and take a deep breath," Eric said firmly before taking in a profound breathe himself, inciting the younger man to do the same.

Gradually, Ryan calmed down and was soon able to breathe normally, only a bit shaken by the panic he had just felt. He stayed still, allowing himself to rest his head on the man's shoulder.

After a while, Eric felt Wolfe regain his composure and begin to stir away from him. He let him go without any resistance but still did not tear his eyes away from him, ready to react quickly if necessary. Fortunately, nothing happened, and Ryan, once he got up, was perfectly stable on his legs.

"Thanks," he murmured, embarrassed by the display he had just shown, particularly because it had been in front of Eric. The older CSI already saw him as a replacement, as someone who did not belong in their team." What would he think of him now?

"No problem," Eric answered, shaking off the fear he had felt when he saw Ryan in such distress. By the time he snapped out of his thoughts, however, Ryan was already at the door. "Wolfe!" he exclaimed, without thinking about it.

The young man turned around and looked at Eric, questioning him silently.

"Come back here."

"Why?" Ryan asked, frowning. He was suspicious. What was Eric going to do? Mock him because of his crisis?

Somehow, his thoughts must have shown onto his face because Eric, who was not able to suppress the guilt and the hurt from his eyes, just answered. "I just wanted to know what happened with Calleigh."

"What makes you think something happened with her?" Ryan asked, trying to look sincerely taken aback. But as much as he was gifted with being able to tell when he was being lied to, he could not do a great job of lying himself.

Eric just raised an eyebrow in disbelief.

"Listen, Delko, it's nothing. We just… had a disagreement on something, and we had some words. It's nothing that concerns you."

"Ryan, there is a difference between colleagues having an argument and a colleague leaving the other one hyperventilating. Normally, I would not worry about a simple argument, but I know enough about hyperventilation to know there is always a danger, and yes, that worries me. Now, I understand you don't want to talk about it, much less, do it with me, and I can't really blame you for that. But it can't stay that way, so you are going to wait here, and then, when I'm ready, we are going to go and talk somewhere."

Ryan stayed, mouth agape, and Eric went to his locker before the other man had time to come around and yell at him for ordering him around. Besides, it was probably the first real conversation they had had since Ryan arrived at the lab, and he had to admit that he did not want to fuck this up.

When Eric came back, they headed for the car park in silence. It was making Ryan nervous, but he did not know what to say so he just kept quiet, hoping that his colleague would be the one to open a conversation. Unfortunately, that did not seem to be the case as the drive was done in a complete silence. Eventually, Ryan lost it and turned to face the driver.

"Where are we going, Delko, and what the hell do you want?" he asked aggressively.

"You know, Wolfe, we've been driving for fifteen minutes, and waiting that long before asking where we are headed could have been potentially dangerous," he stated. "I only wanted to have a conversation with you, and I would like to have it in a quiet place. Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you," he added with a wink.

"What about?"

Eric sighed. "Listen, we're almost there, and it's really not a conversation I want to have while driving. You can wait fifteen more minutes, can't you?"

Ryan stared at him for some time, trying to determine whether or not he could trust Eric. Apparently, he decided that yes, he could. "Okay," he articulated slowly before falling into another silence.

Around ten minutes later, Eric left the road and stopped the car. Ryan immediately noticed they were at the beach(,) in a place where strangely enough, there was not a lot of people. Actually, as Eric led him on the sand, he realized they were totally alone.

"It's a spot nobody comes to. An old story, but let's just say that people don't like it here. It's perfectly safe, though, and good if you want to be left alone," he explained, seeing the frown on Ryan's face.

They walked for a while before Eric came to a halt, and just dropped on the sand. Ryan, himself, got out of his jacket, laid it out it on the ground, and sat down on it.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" he asked.

"I wanted to apologize," Eric stated.

Yeah, the little scene earlier had been a wake-up call for him. They had all welcomed the young CSI with hostility, meanness even. Of course, that was because they all felt like he was trying to take Speed's place. But now Eric understood how much they had hurt Wolfe. Not only had Ryan never wanted to take their friend's place, he was doing a damn good job, and nobody ever told him that. They would have to cut him some slack from then on.

"Why?" Ryan asked.

Eric looked at him incredulously. "You cannot possibly ask me that, Wolfe. You know damn well why I'm apologizing."

"I know what you're apologizing FOR, Delko," Ryan countered. "I don't know why you WANT to apologize. Because if this is some kind of a guilt trip because of what happened earlier, which I wouldn't know why since you had nothing to do with it, then don't worry. Trust me. I'm doing just fine."

"It has nothing to do with that, or yes, it does, but not because I feel responsible or whatever you're thinking. Just…. I never realized how much we were hurting you by behaving the way we were. And don't even try to deny it," he added as he saw Ryan on the verge of opening his mouth to protest. "Since you arrived, we have all been awful towards you. Well, all of us minus Horatio, that is. But you did nothing to deserve that. All of this was because of Speed's death, but you weren't responsible for that. It's not fair that we've been taking out our anger at his death on you. So, well, I'm sorry, for what it's worth. And it's going to change. I can't promise anything for the others, but with me, at least, it's going to change."

Ryan listened to Eric without interrupting. He would never admit how happy what the other man had said was making him. Because, yes, he was hurt by the way they were treating him. He could never seem to do things right, or even if he did, they would say something to make him feel like he did not. And each day, doing his job was getting harder and harder. Maybe, just maybe, now it was going to change.

"Thanks," he said quietly.

Eric only nodded. "You still don't want to tell me what happened with Calleigh." It was more a statement than a question, and Ryan understood it like so.

"It was nothing. Just a… heated conversation that did not end up well. It's just difficult to defend yourself when you're against everyone else."

He had not meant to reveal that much, but the atmosphere of confidence they were bathing in made it easier.

"Well, not anymore," Eric stated, repressing the guilt that was threatening to come out again. "And as far as Calleigh's concerned, give her some time. She loved him."

Ryan smiled to himself. "Speed? Yeah, I gathered that much," he admitted. "I would have liked to have met him," he added as an afterthought, his gaze lost into the blue of the sea.

"It might have made things easier," Eric whispered, lost into his own world.

Ryan could not take his eyes away from the water in front of him. When he was suddenly blinded by the redness of the sun setting down on the horizon, his eyes widened. He didn't think that they had been there for so long.

"It's sunset," he murmured, surprised by the sound of his own voice.

"Yeah."

"We're alone on a beach, facing the water, and it's sunset," Ryan repeated, almost disbelievingly.

Eric let out a laugh. "Okay, I did not think of that when I asked you to come here with me, promise!"

Ryan turned to face him, and seeing him laugh softly, he smiled broadly.

"I thought so, too."

Nonetheless, they stayed until the sun had finally disappeared beyond the sea.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title**: A moment in time

**Chapter 2**  
**Characters**: Eric, Ryan  
**Word Count**:  
**Rating**: PG, for now at least.  
**Warnings/Spoilers**: none, apart maybe from divergences from the show, since I haven't seen a lot of episodes yet.  
**Summary**: At Ryan's arrival, the team did not welcome him, Eric included. But his whole perception is changed in one moment. What happens when Ryan becomes Eric's protégé… and maybe more?

**Thanks to****shadowfax27** who did a wonderful job at correcting my awful lot of mistakes!  


* * *

_**Chapter 2 **_

After that evening on the beach, things between Ryan and Eric began to improve drastically. They began to talk to each other, and not only about their common cases, but they began to hang out together as well. And even though that did not happen all the time, it was enough for people around them to start noticing. If Horatio was more than pleased and maybe just a bit surprised with this new development, that was not the case with everybody else. Alexx and Calleigh were not at all pleased with the change in Eric's behavior. They had the feeling their friend was betraying Speed's memory by becoming close to Ryan.

The attitude of the two women towards their young colleague, contrary to what Eric had thought, did not improve. Actually, it seemed to have gone from bad to worse. Eric watched sadly as his two female friends shunned Ryan out. Not only that, but they made their resentment and hatred towards him even more obvious. He could see how that was affecting the young CSI. It was the principal reason why Eric, with Horatio's agreement, asked to work with Ryan most of the time.

That did not soothe the situation though because there was no way for Ryan to work at the lab without stumbling on Calleigh or Alexx. Eric tried to limit these confrontations, as did Ryan, but they were inevitable, and each time, Ryan was hurt more and more.

That was why Eric was, at the moment, walking in the direction of the morgue. He had decided it was high time for him to have a conversation with the two women. He would have thought that Horatio would have done it when he saw how bad the situation was becoming, but apparently, that was not the case.

He had decided to begin with Alexx, knowing that she would be more sensible than Calleigh. Besides, the woman had a golden heart and was a mother, he was sure she not really want to hurt Ryan.

Arriving at his destination, he entered the morgue, knocking lightly on the door. The woman raised her head and looked at him.

"Hello, Eric, what can I do for you?" she asked pleasantly.

"Hey, Alexx! Actually, I wanted to talk to you. You got a minute?"

"Of course, I always have time for you. Come in," she gestured for him to take a seat.

He sat down on the seat and waited a few seconds before talking.

"I wanted to talk to you about Ryan," Eric declared.

"About Ryan," Alexx repeated coolly. "I'm listening."

Well, it was better than if she had simply refused to talk altogether, wasn't it? At least, she allowed him the occasion to explain himself.

"I know that I'm asking a lot, but could you please try not to be so mean to him? I'm not asking you to be kind or anything, just to let him be."

"Eric, I know that you both became friends, and quite frankly, I don't understand you, but it's your choice, and I respect that. But don't ask me to do the same, please, don't ask me to like him," she pleaded.

"I'm not, I promise I'm not. I just want you to… to ignore him, if you really can't do anything else. But just talk to him civilly when you're working together. Treat him as if he were a stranger if you want, but don't hurt him like this anymore."

"I didn't hurt him!" she exclaimed, almost hurt herself that Eric could think that. Sure, she did not like Ryan, but she would never hurt him on purpose.

"Alexx, you and Calleigh, you're hurting him. Hell! Do you know how sad he looks after each 'conversation' he has had with one of you? Did you know that one day I found him hyperventilating after Calleigh left him?"

"What!" Alexx was apparently not aware of that fact, which, considering Eric was the only one to have witnessed it, was not at all surprising.

The black woman blinked several times, as if processing the information she just received and then swallowed.

"I didn't know it was that bad," she admitted. "I knew Calleigh didn't like Ryan at all, but I never imagined that…"

"I'm sure you didn't, Alexx, but the facts are there, and it's not good. Not for him, not for the team, and subsequently, not for the cases. We have to work with each other. Okay, we don't have to love each other, but at least we shouldn't be at each other's throats. Otherwise, work is going to suffer from it. And there is no way such a thing is acceptable."

Alexx nodded, agreeing with Eric's statement. She knew it was true and, maybe, even if she could not like Ryan, she could at least be civil towards him.

"I'll be civil towards him," she finally said. "But don't ask me to like him."

"I'm not.Thanks, Alexx." Eric gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before walking out of the morgue.

Alexx watched him go before sighing.

Eric was now heading to the lab, where he was sure he would find Calleigh. He knew it would not go as well as it had with Alexx, but he could at least give it a try. And maybe it would be enough to make her think about her attitude towards their young colleague. He just hoped it would not make things worse.

"Hey, Cal'," he said cheerfully, knocking on the door and peeking through.

"Hey, Eric, come in!"

He obeyed and went to her. She was working on a bullet they had retrieved at a crime scene some hours before. He let her finish her test, and as soon as she looked up from the microscope and asked him what was on his mind, he began talking.

"Actually, Ryan," he answered honestly, and as soon as the words passed his lips, he knew it was already lost.

"I have nothing to say."

"Calleigh, you can't go on treating him like this," he exclaimed, knowing he was only talking to a wall.

"Oh, yes, I can, and I will! Maybe you can forgive him, but I can't. I'm sorry, Eric."

And with that, the conversation was over. Calleigh took her results and left the room, angry, leaving Eric alone to try to figure out what the hell Calleigh thought he had forgiven Ryan for.

But he did not stay alone for a long time because the door had not been closed for thirty seconds before it opened again. Eric looked up to see Ryan.

"What happened? I just saw Calleigh, she looked…" Ryan hesitated but Eric finished for him.

"Mad? Yeah… don't worry about it, it's nothing."

Ryan's eyes narrowed, and he approached Eric, looking right into his face, looking for an answer, a frown on his forehead. Eric could not help raising an eyebrow and smirking.

"Like what you're seeing?" he asked playfully.

"It's my fault," Ryan stated, immediately wiping the smirk off of Eric's face. "What happened with Calleigh, it's my fault, isn't it?"

Eric sighed. "Ry', you had nothing to do with that, okay?" he didn't totally lie. After all, it was not Ryan's fault that Calleigh was so stubborn, and Eric knew that if it had been anyone else other than Ryan, it would have been the same.

"I don't want your friends to be mad at you because of me," Ryan stated, feeling guilty for the potential problems he could create between Eric and the others.

"She's not mad at me," he reassured Ryan. "She's mad at… I don't know exactly. At the situation, I guess. But I don't want you to worry about that, and I'm not letting you take the blame, okay? She's going to have to change soon. Horatio is being patient, but he's not going to indulge that for long now."

"Great. Then she will have problems, and I'll be the one to blame for it, and she'll get even madder. I… I shouldn't have come here," he finished, whispering. "I don't have a place here."

The look on Ryan's face was so devastated that Eric's breath caught in his throat. "Hey!" he interrupted, swinging an arm around the younger man's shoulders. "Don't go there. You have a place here. You're a good CSI, and you're a good person. Let her have some time, and she will see it, as everyone will. So don't let anyone make you second-guess yourself, okay?"

Ryan looked up into Eric's eyes and saw that he was only telling the truth. A small smile came on his lips.

"Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Seeming to finally realize that he still had his arm around Ryan, Eric detached himself and put some distance between them.

"So, what did you came here for?" he asked.

Ryan looked at him strangely for some time before snapping out of it and remembering the reason he had come there in the first place.

"Oh, yeah, it was about the case…"

Alexx wandered away, being careful not to be heard, a sad smile playing on her lips. She had heard the conversation between the two men and had seen them interact, and even if she had to admit she was not too proud to have eavesdropped on them, she was grateful to have seen that scene.

She had seen Calleigh in one of the numerous corridors, and realizing how mad the young woman looked, Alexx had immediately thought that something had happened with Ryan. It was not a difficult guess, seeing that almost every one of their conversations finished with one of them storming out of the room.

So, she had decided to go and see if she could understand what happened(,) and that was how she found herself listening to the two boys of the team talking to each other. She finally understood what Eric meant when he said they were hurting Ryan by the way they were acting. The young CSI had always been careful around her and Calleigh, never letting them see what he was feeling, but seeing him with Eric was another thing.

With Eric, apparently, he was at ease enough to let him see the emotion he was feeling. And it was heart-wrenching. Alexx could not believe she was to blame, at least partially, for Ryan's pain.

Tears gathered in her eyes as she returned to her morgue. How could she have been so blind? Of course, she had been totally blinded by her own pain, her own grief, and had not seen the one she was provoking around her. But now, that was going to change.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3/4**

**Note:** Okay, I've no excuse for not updating this any sooner but I just didn't have any inspiration and I don't even watch the show anymore! But, I've recently decided I would try to finish all the stories I've begun so here it is... The last chapter should be up in a day or two depending on when I've got the time to update.

This chapter has not been betaed but I hope I've gotten good enough in English for it to be readable. I apologize in advance for the syntax errors

**Chapter 3**

Ryan and Calleigh were headed towards the morgue, to go and see if Alexx had found out the cause of death of their last case. No words were exchanged between them and the tension that had been growing more and more since Eric and Ryan became friends was reaching new height. And, even if Eric had dismissed the idea, Ryan couldn't help thinking that it had something to do with the two old friends' conversation.

Ryan wanted to talk so much. He wanted to tell Calleigh not to get like that with Eric because the young man had been able to see that things were getting rocky between the two of them. He wanted to tell her not to turn her back on her friend just because of him. That just wasn't fair for Delko. But he knew that there were more chances of things getting better if he just kept his mouth shut.

As soon as they entered the room, Alexx looked up at them and motioned for them to come near the body.

"So, what's the cause of death?" Calleigh asked, impatient to be able to go on with the investigation.

Alexx began to explain to both CSI what had happened to the young woman she had been examining for the past few hours. She got into the details of her autopsy and, once she was done, both investigators nodded before thanking her.

"Thank you, Alexx," Ryan said before turning to look at Calleigh. "Maybe we should just check on her husband, see what he can tell us about this affair, see whether or not he knew she had one?"

"Gee, Ryan, that's such a wonderful suggestion. I sure couldn't have thought of it myself."

"I. I'm just trying to do my job," he stammered, not knowing exactly why he was that surprised about the reaction. "I."

"Yeah, of course, you're just trying to do your job… That shouldn't even be your job to begin win!"

"And why is that?" Ryan asked, angered even though he felt his sadness growing. "I don't see why it shouldn't! I'm a good CSI and…"

"You know what Wolfe? You should have been at Speed's place and taken that bullet," she cried before storming out of the room, leaving the two other people shocked in her wake of her departure.

Ryan felt tears stinging his eyes but he kept them at bay, swallowing with difficulty the lump in his throat. He knew that Calleigh resented him for being the one to replace Speed, and he could understand to a level, but he never thought that she would have wished that. It hurt him more than anything that had happened since he got there.

He hung his head and took some time to regain his composure in the newfound silence of the room. He didn't even react when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Ryan?" Alexx said softly. "Are you-"

"I'm fine, Alexx, thank," he cut her off, not sure if he would be able to stand her finishing that sentence.

He looked up, his eyes shining with unshed tears breaking her heart.

"I guess I should go. I have a case to work on."

"Ryan, baby, I'm sure she didn't mean what she said," Alexx tried to comfort him, the endearment rolling easily on her tongue, unable to believe she just heard Calleigh say something so hurtful to the young man.

Wolfe smiled slightly when he heard the nickname, knowing that it meant that Alexx had finally accepted him and, somehow, it did warm his heart a little bit. However, it wasn't enough to make him forget the blonde woman's word. He shrugged.

"Yeah… of course, she didn't," he said and, without any more comment, he left the room, leaving Alexx all alone, trying to figure out whether she should do something or not.

Ryan walked rapidly through the various halls he now was used to navigate in and hurried to the entrance desk. He knew that the receptionist liked him and probably wouldn't mind answering his question.

"Hey, Maria," he greeting with a fake smile that was apparently enough to mask him pain.

"Oh… Hello, Ryan. What can I do for you?" the young woman asked.

"Have you seen Calleigh leave the building yet?" he asked, not wanting to head out to the victim's husband if his colleague was already there; he wasn't sure she would appreciate.

Maria shook her head.

"No, I've seen her when she came back, with you," she added needlessly. "But she didn't leave since then. You want me to ask around if anyone know where she is exactly?"

"No, no need, Maria. Thank you," he thanked before walking away.

Ryan hesitated for a little while, not sure whether he should try to find Calleigh and get her to come with him to the husband or if he should go alone. If the young woman hadn't gone there already, then it probably meant that she had thought about something else and he didn't want to bother her. He was able to do a simple interview by himself; it wasn't as if no one ever did these things alone.

Making his mind, he left the building and made his way to his car; it was time for him to show that he could be a good CSI without needing anyone to hold his hand. Maybe then, Calleigh would see that he had his place in the team and wasn't trying to do anything else than doing his job.

Alexx was getting worried. After having debated with herself for a while, she had decided that it wasn't a very good idea to leave Ryan alone. He was ready insecure enough about his position in the team but after Calleigh's uncalled remark, it would probably be even worse.

When she hadn't been able to find the kid, she had just assumed that he was working on some lead or other and she had gone to Eric, see if he knew anything about his whereabouts. He had answered that he had no idea, that he wasn't working on the same case because Horatio had needed him for something else, but that one of the others should know where he was.

He still had asked her if something had happened and she had simply answered that he had had a round with Calleigh. She didn't get into the details, however, if Ryan wanted to tell Eric, he would. It was her place to say anything.

She had then gone and asked Horatio but the man hadn't been anymore helpful. He simply said that Ryan was probably working on something. He cared for the young man, yes, but Ryan was a big boy and he knew what he was doing. He had never obliged his CSI to report their every moves to him and he was going to begin with Wolfe, not if he wanted him to see that he was trusting him.

But neither of the two men answers was reassuring her. That was the reason she was on her way to see if Calleigh knew something. If both Eric and Horatio didn't, it was doubtful that the blonde woman did but she could at least make sure. It wouldn't hurt any or so she hoped.

Calleigh was crouched down on some ballistic analysis and didn't hear her coming so Alexx knocked slightly on the glass door, not wanting to frighten her too much. It was never a good thing to do when someone had a gun in hand.

The blonde turned and smiled to her friend, motioning for her to approach.

"What is it, Alexx?" she asked.

"I was wondering if you knew where Ryan was."

There was a brief flash of emotion in Calleigh's eyes but it went away as quickly and it came and she frowned, realizing that she hadn't seen the young man since her brusque departure from the morgue, which was kind of strange actually. She would have thought he would have wanted to go and check on their victim's husband.

She shook her head, her ponytail balancing.

"I don't know. He's probably looking over some of our genetic prints," she guessed, not seeing any other possibility.

It was Alexx' turn to shake her head, worry etched on her face. It wasn't good for one of them to leave the building without telling anyone where they were going. Going someone alone was one thing but going without even giving any warning was another matter.

"He's not in the building anymore. I thought he would have told one of you where he was going but both Horatio and Eric have no idea either."

Calleigh's frown deepened and, against her will, she felt the beginning of worry crept into her. Ryan would have gone to confront the girl's husband alone? Not when there was a very good possibility that he was the murderer? That would be totally unconscious and it wasn't like Ryan to do something like that, even if she didn't like him she had to admit that much.

"He may have gone to question our suspect," she said slowly, as if trying to conciliate that with the image she knew of Ryan and not really believing me. "But he would probably have gone with someone."

Alexx had a sinking feeling that no, he didn't do that. And her fears were confirmed when the radio, turned on the police frequency reported a gun shot. A gun shot at the exact address of their victims. The two women looked at each others, terror reflected in both their eyes.


	4. Chapter 4

**_Note: _**this chapter has not been betaed. I do hope it's readable and apologize in advance for the syntax mistakes...

_**Chapter 4/4**_

Calleigh was driving in direction of their victim's home, knowing that she would be needed anyway since it was her scene crime to begin with, hers and Ryan's of course. She could only hope that the young man was alright because there was no way that he wasn't there. No, he had been the one to say they should go back to talk to the husband and, since he wasn't at the lab, there was no other place he would be.

She should have been with him. He shouldn't have been there alone, not with a guy that was considered a suspect. The procedure in that case was there should be at least two people, because the risks of getting hurt were too big. But he hadn't called her to come with and she had no one else to blame for that but herself. How could have Ryan come to her after the way she had treated him?

She couldn't believe that she had told him he should have taken a bullet instead of Speed. How could have she told a colleague that he should have died? A colleague whose job but him in the line of danger everyday at that!

Now she had had her wish and she was praying that Ryan was alright, no matter what she had said to him. She guessed that the fear of him being hurt – or dead, even though she couldn't bear to think about that possibility – made her realize that the kid was as human as any of them, as subject at everything that happened in their job as any of them. That was something she had forgotten in her quest to make Ryan pay for what happened to Speed when she knew, intellectually, that he wasn't responsible and that someone had to take that job anyway.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity but couldn't have been more than a few minutes, especially at the speed she was driving, she came to a halt in front of their victim's house. There was already a police patrol, with the husband in handcuff being forced into their car, while another was putting a new security perimeter. And, of course, there was an ambulance.

She barely let her car stop before she was out, walking rapidly to the red and white vehicle. The fact that they didn't seem in a hurry to depart did somehow reassure her that her colleague's condition wasn't too bad.

Effectively, as soon as she rounded the ambulance, she was able to hear him try to argue out of going to the hospital, saying that he had work to do. She nearly shook her head in annoyance. The guy had quite obviously taken a bullet, even though it just grazed him, and he wanted to go back to work. Typical from men; they always had to do the macho thing.

"Ryan!" she exclaimed and the young man's head turned to her so fast she didn't know how it was possible he did crack his spine.

"Calleigh," he began, quite embarrassed and fearful of what she was going to say. "I…"

"Went to interrogate the suspect. Turned out he was guilty, felt cornered and shot you. I gathered and I will let Horatio do the whole berating thing later. How are you?"

Ryan looked stunned by the inquiry – and didn't take make her feel good about herself? – but nodded nonetheless.

"I'm fine. It's just a scratch."

She didn't look especially convinced by that and looked at the paramedic, an eyebrow raised in question.

"The bullet didn't touch anything vital and he hasn't lost too much blood. I still would like for him to get to the hospital and have more thorough check out," he explained, ignoring the younger man's protests.

Calleigh nodded and hopped inside the ambulance, telling the paramedic to drive them there. She would call for another team to take care of the scene on the way but, for now, she would go with Ryan. First, she needed to make sure that he would actually get checked out by a doctor, because it wouldn't surprise her if he just slipped away once there. And second, she did have to make amend and the least she could do would be to stay with him while he was injured, even if it was only superficial.

"I… I can go alone," Ryan stammered, not understanding the change in Calleigh but not wanting for her to waste her time when he was perfectly fine on his own.

"We don't let our colleague alone when they're injured, Ryan. Especially since I should have been with you and prevent you from getting hurt first place."

"I'm the one who decided to go alone," Ryan reminded her, not knowing why couldn't just let it slip. "I didn't tell you what I was doing. You couldn't have known."

While the ambulance began to move, and that the two of them were sitting down inside the back, she looked at him intently, searching his eyes but he wasn't able to sustain her gaze and looked down.

"Tell me, if I hadn't acted like I did before, would you have come to me before interrogating him or would you still have wanted to prove yourself to me by going alone?" she asked and she knew the answer, even if he didn't admit it.

Ryan shrugged. Truth was, he wasn't sure. Calleigh wasn't the only not to have accepted him, so he may have done the same anyway, but on the other hand, the others weren't as important. It wasn't as if he saw them a lot and worked often with them so it wasn't the same at all.

"Look, Ryan, I know how I acted was wrong, especially what I said this morning. And trust me when I say that I didn't mean that one at all. I knew all that already, I knew that the thing with Speed wasn't your fault – hell, you weren't there! –, I knew that someone had to fill his spot; we couldn't work with a member missing. Yes, I knew all of this intellectually. But, emotionally…," she trailed down, letting her voice die down.

"It's not the same," Ryan continued for her. "I understand that," he then admitted.

"But it still hurts," she said, knowing what he was thinking with him needing to say it; it was written all over his face. "I will try, Ryan. Just… give me some time, okay?"

Ryan finally looked at her again and nodded, smiling slightly. Things may not have been totally okay, but it was already a step in the right direction and it was something, something he had prayed would happen one day.

The rest of the way was spent in silence but it wasn't as uncomfortable as it would have been a few hours ago. Both were lost in their thoughts and they almost startled when the driven opened the door.

Once inside, a nurse whisked Ryan away and told Calleigh to wait some time before coming to see him. They had to check him out and they needed him alone for that. The blonde woman used that time to call the lab, making sure that a team had already been send, and then called Eric, telling him about what happened and asking him to come to the hospital. After all, he was Ryan's friend and it would do him some good if the Cuban could be there, at least up to the results were there.

She waited for her colleague to arrive with Ryan, chitchatting with him on subjects of no importance. She may have been willing to try, willing to change her attitude, but that didn't mean that they would be immediately on the confidences and deep conversations stage. They still had a long way to go.

She said goodbye to Ryan at the moment Eric entered the room and nodded to him, smiling in apology and he smiled back, letting her know that he wasn't mad at her. She walked a bit and turned back to take a last look at the two boys, Eric obviously making sure that Ryan was okay and Ryan, smiling, trying to fend off the offending hands.

She smiled to herself and hoped they wouldn't make the same mistake she did with Speed. Life was too short to hide your feelings instead of acting on them.


End file.
